In Germany it is becoming less and less worthwhile to grow strawberries. Many farmers rely on other types of fruit and vegetables. Whether the domestic strawberry has a future also depends on the consumers.
“I’ve always liked growing strawberries, but I just can’t do it anymore,” says farmer Albrecht Schäffer. Around 20 years ago he took over his parents’ business in Ravensburg on Lake Constance and for many years he mainly grew vegetables and strawberries, now only on 0.8 hectares of a total of 22. On the rest he grows grain for animal feed.
Next year it will be all over with the strawberries. The reason is the poor revenue situation, according to Schäffer. “2012 to 2019 were always bad to catastrophic years for the strawberry harvest. There were years with a loss of 3000 euros per hectare.”
With the minimum wage, prices go up
Strawberries are very exposed to the weather. Frost, hail, rain: All of these have a major impact on the harvest. Years in which there was another late frost would have resulted in a loss of 60 to 80 percent. “What is now on top of that are the increased costs for fertilizer and, above all, the minimum wage of twelve euros an hour,” says Schäffer.
In order to harvest one hectare of strawberries, he needs at least ten harvest workers, explains Schäffer. On the other hand, you only need one to grow one hectare of apples. “The wage costs for strawberries are simply more important.” In addition, strawberries cannot be stored like apples. Strawberries that are harvested must also be sold directly. And depending on how many strawberries are entering the market at the same time, the price pressure is great.
Asparagus instead of strawberries
At Schäffer, the strawberry harvest will only start in two to three weeks. The strawberry harvest has already started at Rolf Haller from Horgenzell on Lake Constance. “The strawberries look great, we’re about to have a very good harvest,” says Haller optimistically. They are currently harvesting 100 boxes a day, in the main harvest from June it will be around 6000 boxes of five kilograms a day. Haller grows strawberries on 100 hectares, they make up 60 to 70 percent of his cultivation.
But he, too, will probably have to reduce the strawberry acreage next year and then grow more asparagus. “Fertilizer and fuel prices have risen, but most of it is the minimum wage,” says Haller. “When it comes to strawberries, half the cost is wages.”
competitive pressure from abroad
In addition, there is competition from abroad. “Portugal, Spain – the minimum wage is different there. They can produce cheaper and sell cheaper. And then the cheap strawberries from Spain stand next to the expensive ones from the region.” Then the consumer is also asked: in 2022 Haller tried to sell the 500-gram bowl for 4.50 euros – and got stuck on his goods. So it went down again to 2.90 euros, the price of 2021 – with losses. This year the 400 gram bowl will cost 3.90 euros in his own farm shop.
Haller sells half of his harvest through direct sales, i.e. through the farm shops, stalls and market traders at the weekly market. The other half goes to retail. Haller hopes that the minimum wage will not increase further. He would like an exception for fruit growing, especially since most of the seasonal workers come from abroad. His concern: If all farmers reduce the area under cultivation, at some point there will be far fewer regional products.
Cultivated areas decreased
In fact, according to the Federal Statistical Office, the strawberry acreage in Germany fell from 19,123 hectares in 2014 to 14,862 hectares in 2022. “Production costs in labour-intensive crops are rising too much and too quickly. Revenues aren’t increasing to the same extent or are even falling. The increasing costs have to be borne directly by the farming families and are a heavy burden on them,” says a joint statement from the agricultural associations at Lake Constance.
And further: “A special regulation for the minimum wage for seasonal workers in agriculture and horticulture would ensure that the companies are not so heavily burdened that they threaten their existence. This exception is also urgently needed in order to maintain the domestic production of labour-intensive crops and to prevent production relocations abroad .”
“Farmers are committed”
Farmer Schäffer from Ravensburg established a second mainstay years ago as a software developer for landscape calculations, he says. Because of the increased risks, he doesn’t want to focus 100 percent on agriculture; But he won’t give it up completely for the time being.
“It makes me sad. Farmers are committed, they put in a lot of effort, a lot of commitment,” he says. “If you can no longer make a living from it, that’s a questionable development.”